Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Little Boy and his Magic

'Do you want to see some magic', he asked, his bright big eyes ripe with anticipation.

We passed the cigarette between us and continued discussing what should be the new
strategy forward for the company, completely oblivious to the presence
of the little boy almost pleading with us.

'I will show you good magic, only Rupees five', he pressed again even as
S dismissed him with a wave of his hand. All this while we avoided
making any eye contact with him; looking at him would not be as easy as
it was to pretend that he wasn't present there and so needed no
intervention from our side.

'Sir, my magic is good, only Rupees five. I am hungry', he said, looked
at us still engrossed in our conversation and hiding behind the cloud of
smoke. He moved on to another guy sitting on a scooter, who
angrily scared the little kid away before he could even tell him how
good his magic was.

I forgot all about him, till he came back again in my dreams and
asked for money in exchange of some great magic so he could eat
some food. I don't remember anymore if I agreed.

29 comments:

Ouch! Its pathetic to ignore the hungry gazes they give you, you can see the sincere shimmer in some eyes though. Got one of the kind here :http://exceptionallyme.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-life-shall-go-on.html

A melancholic scoop of little incident that's so moving...Could sense that sympathy underlying the lines...sympathy or empathy...that's what makes us human...:-) Liked the silences in between the narrative...gently written but highly tangible!

It breaks my heart to see toddlers, that reach up to knees, pulling the rim of my pants and begging for mercy.

I can't even make eye-contact with the under privileged children because I was VERY spoilt as a child.. and yet, it is nothing but destiny that makes me a PhD candidate today.. and someone a mother at 14.

somehow, the more westernized we get.. the more we lose our heart. It is plain sad.

It is a sad state. Even if you do acknowledge the presence of the boy, even if you do hear him say that he will show good magic for Rs 5, will you watch him show his magic, will you judge him if his magic is good, will you still give him Rs 5...I know..that I wont. If I had to help him, may be I can give him some food...but by giving money..we are only supporting beggary. Its a difficult situation to be in..

@bhavin: Yes, maybe a picture could be here, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to either click him or use his picture for a post...plus I was keen to keep the post to still be able to connect without obvious emotions!

@Kunal: I agree, giving money wasn't gonna serve any purpose. Its not even a small meal for him...I often do buy food for kids who ask for money. Didn't give him any food though...maybe that's why the incident bothered me much. But what will one meal do? The hunger will be back by the time its time for the next one...